As he arrived to preview the Southampton game in front of the media in the pouring rain on Friday, David Moyes made a point of ensuring his umbrella was folded down and tucked away before entering the press conference room.
“There’s no chance I’m having that up in here,” he said, with a knowing smile. The West Ham manager will take help from wherever he can get it over the final two months of this campaign, and his small gesture towards keeping fortune onside sprang to mind when Paul Onuachu fired his shot off the crossbar in the dying minutes on Sunday.
A couple of inches lower, and Moyes would be reflecting on Monday on a home lead blown and the most winnable game in his side’s run-in squandered. Instead, Nayef Aguerd’s first-half header has the Hammers up to 14th, just a point outside the relegation zone, but with the comfort of games in hand.
In truth, this was a middling performance in a worse game, but at this stage Moyes will not care. Eight summer signings — nine with Danny Ings’s January addition — are still yet to gel, but of those buys Aguerd stands out a mile as the only unqualified success.
The Moroccan, who had hardly kicked a ball for the Hammers by the time he shone for his country at the World Cup due to a pre-season ankle injury, has not been foot-perfect, but he has still been arguably Moyes’s most reliable performer since the mid-season break.
Aguerd guided a superb header past Gavin Bazunu from Thilo Kehrer’s free-kick, having timed his run to perfection to get free. “We’ve got a clean sheet, Aguerd’s got his first goal, which is really pleasing,” Moyes said. “When you are not in a great position, performances are really important, but the most important [thing] is the result.”
Amid that octet of summer arrivals, Aguerd was one of three marquee additions designed to revamp the Hammers’ spine. Gianluca Scamacca, the £30million striker, was backed last week by his manager to come good in the run-in, but the Italian was missing here with a knee problem and is still yet to make any sort of consistent impact, a concern for Moyes, whose side again failed to provide much service for Ings.
Lucas Paqueta, though, the club’s record buy, produced a laudable display, one more noted for the kind of industry West Ham’s midfield has never lacked than the creativity it badly needs.
Aguerd has not been foot-perfect, but he has still been arguably Moyes’s most reliable performer
“Those Brazilians are tough tacklers, aren’t they? That’s why we bought him here,” Moyes joked, having seen the playmaker make 10 tackles, the most by a West Ham player in a League game for more than a decade. “Let’s be fair, we bought Lucas in to score goals, make goals, do lots of other things, but we’re thrilled he’s got another side to him.”
Aguerd’s goal briefly sparked a period in which West Ham threatened a more comfortable win. A better side might have taken advantage when they failed to kill the game. Moyes knows, though, that when Newcastle visit on Wednesday, his side must be sharper.
